Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat on Thursday expressed concerns over any potential Israeli action targeting Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Erekat's concerns came in response to earlier Israeli reports that Israel beefed up forces presence in the outskirts of Ramallah and al Beereh in the West Bank.

This military reinforcement prompted Palestinian fears that the aim of the operation was to storm the two towns.

Erekat denied that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) had any idea about a possible Israeli incursion into Ramallah.

He, however, added that all Israeli army reinforcement in the area indicated that a military operation was expected to be carried out soon.

Meanwhile, Erekat said the Palestinian side was still waiting for an answer from the United States and the European Union concerning its request to hold a joint Israeli-Palestinian security meeting, postponed indefinitely, on Palestinian police rearming in the West Bank.

"We had said that if they want us to restore security and keep the Palestinian territories quite, it is for sure that we need police forces and strong Palestinian security apparatuses to act with their arms in the area," stressed Erekat.

Source: Xinhua